The Arabic philosophical fable "Hayy Ibn Yaqzan" is a classic of medieval Islamic philosophy. Ibn Tufayl (d. 1185), an Andalusian philosopher, tells of a happy child raised by a doe on an equatorial island who grows up to discover the truth about the world and his own place in it, unaided - but also unimpeded - by society, language, or tradition. Hayy's discoveries about God, nature, and man challenge the values of the culture in which the tale was written as well as those of every contemporary society. Translator Lenn E. Goodman's commentary places "Hayy Ibn Yaqzan" in its historical and philosophical context. The volume features a new preface and index, as well as an updated bibliography.

《哈义·本·叶格赞》中的主人公不是伊本·图斐利笔下第一个创造性人物。早在10世纪，伊本·西那为解释自己理性主义而使用波斯文学家所酷爱的象征法时，已写出了象征体故事《哈义·本·叶格赞》。在这部短篇著作中，哈义是一位鹤发童颜、精神矍铄的老叟。他对我们的哲人现身说法，指出现代哲人欲借内外感官，认识天地。他们只有一条路——向东走，那是一条永纯的、精神的道路，而西行则是趋向物质和罪恶。这里，哈义是思维的灵魂的向导，以其象征原动的精神作用于人类的最后的天体的精神。它说明了灵魂由四行的世界、超自然世界、精神世界上升至独一无始者的宝座。